Belgian pundit suggests Wout Van Aert is struggling with his own popularity: "He is approached as a demigod in Belgium"

All the riders participating in the races during the Opening Weekend were warmly welcomed by the crowds in Ghent. But no applause could compare to when Wout Van Aert took to the stage. It just goes on to show much the fans love their home hero.

And that is precisely where the problem lies for the leader of Visma | Lease a Bike, thinks Michel Wuyts. "He is too popular," says the former Sporza commentator in the HLN podcast Wuyts & Vlaeminck.

Wuyts recalls last year's E3 Saxo Classic where he was on the podium during the team presentation: "Van der Poel received a deafening applause, but Van Aert received a fivefold applause. I am also convinced that he will receive a bigger applause than Evenepoel. He is by far the most popular."

"Van Aert is a star, but also an underdog. He is two in one, and he has to deal with that. I asked him on stage: 'Does that stimulate you to give even more of yourself or is it the other way around?' He said that I should not ask him that question at that moment. He is struggling with that, you know. He is approached as a demigod. Whether he wins or loses, he will always be on the first cycling page."